It was standing room only at the Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton on Tuesday evening, June 12, as history was made, in the words of Rabbi Yaacov Shalom, general studies principal of Clifton Cheder, whose remarks opened and closed the evening. For the first time ever in the Passaic-Clifton community, a “Names, not Numbers©” documentary film was completed and screened to the public.

This year, filmmaker Jarrod Hurwitz, a Cheder parent who has worked with students in other New Jersey yeshivot on their documentaries, brought the project to the attention of Rabbi Shalom, who enthusiastically added it to the history curriculum of the eighth grade.

The eighth graders first studied the personal histories of the survivors who were to be the subjects of their interviews, then learned basic interviewing practices from Rosenberg and basic filmmaking and camera techniques from Hurwitz and finally split into groups of three in order to conduct and film the interviews. The students themselves were also filmed by Hurwitz during the making of the movie, giving it a more authentic feel and showing them to be an integral part of the process. Additionally, the students were filmed reflecting on their feelings about meeting the survivors and the lessons they took away from the project. The painstakingly edited interviews were then interspersed with World War II footage and the documentary was finalized by Hurwitz.

On Tuesday evening, June 12, after opening remarks by Rabbi Shalom, Rabbi Yonah Lazar, dean of Clifton Cheder, and Rosenberg, the completed documentary titled “Names, not Numbers©: A Movie in the Making” was screened at the Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton, attended by the faculty, staff and parent body of the Clifton Cheder, as well as other members of the community and the guests of honor: Mark Schonwetter, who was hidden by righteous gentiles; Rene Slotkin, a twin who was one of the subjects of Mengele’s ym”s twin studies; and the son of survivor Rabbi Gershon Weiss, who is currently the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Staten Island.

After the screening of the film, representatives from each group of students addressed the crowd, acknowledging those involved, stating the lessons they learned from working on the project, and presenting Schonwetter and Slotkin with a framed photograph of each of the student groups with “their” survivor. During the dessert reception that followed, Schonwetter and Slotkin mingled with the crowd for photographs and blessings. It was a film and an event that will not be forgotten by those who attended, and certainly not by those involved in creating it.

For more information on the “Names, not Numbers©” organization, please see their website at www.namesnotnumbers.org